Citizen Science: Thursday, November 6, 2008
The Eastern Cougar
What is Real and What is Not Real in the East
We have a migration going on at this moment. It has been happening for some time now, picking up in the 1990s. It has not touched Pennsylvania yet, but there are some other possibilities in the region.
As their territories fill, cougars are leaving their known range in the west and are heading across the prairies, through river valleys and other corridors of habitat, searching for cover, and food.
The cougar’s kill line is presently the Mississippi River with every state from Louisiana to Minnesota on the west side now admitting road kill, gun kill, or even train kill. We know of two places in Illinois where they have crossed the big river and have been killed on the eastern side – one by car and the other by train. There is some pretty good DNA evidence of their existence in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well as parts of Ontario and Quebec. This does not mean a population is present in those locations. It does mean that there are some passing through.
Cougar killed in Iowa
Of course there is a small population of somewhere between 80 and 100 in Florida recently bolstered by Texan genes. There have been at least 50 of these cats killed on Florida roads since 1990, at least 8 in 20O6 and at least 15 so far in 2007.
The big cat is not like the canines. He does not mate and stay with that mate. In fact, he may kill that mate in some situations and kill the kittens if he has the chance. He will also kill or drive out any young males in his home territory, and he is extremely territorial, possibly even more than the human species.
So, those cats that are coming across the prairie and being killed near the Mississippi, are almost all young, immature males, specifically young,. Most are too young to mate. Most are wandering, looking for a safe home. Most of them put their life in danger doing things a mature male would not do in most situations.
In the Dakotas from an isolated population there, one young male made it to Oklahoma, over 700 miles away and was killed. Another made it to Manitoba before the signals from his collar ended.
To date, we have only one situation in the Midwest, east of the Mississippi River, in Kentucky, where we’ve recorded a young cat that was still in the kitten stage. It was hit by a trucker. He said he saw an older one as well as another young one with it. One of our board members at the Cougar Foundation, a geneticist, did the DNA tests. One of its parents had North American ancestry and one had South American ancestry
So, where does that leave us in the East? There is some scattered evidence of cougars this far east: A skull in one place, some tracks in another. But there is no evidence of a population. There is also no hard and fast rule as to how many cougars it takes to make a self-sustaining population. That is an open question. The best evidence of a population at this point is road kill. It happens widely in their the known range in the West, even in fairly remote areas. It is not happening here in the east except Southern Florida. There is also some pretty good DNA evidence in Eastern Canada as well as a few road-killed cats.
Some cougar watchers believe that there are remnant families from the original population that have survived these past several hundred years in remote areas. There is no proof though it is a possibility, especially in more remote areas, like the Smokys and portions of the North East and parts of eastern Canada.
Some people buy young cougars for pets. I have a friend who recently showed me a picture a 30 lb cougar in his front yard on a leash. It was staying at his home with
a friend.
A cougar staying in a home in PA
So what is the real story about cougars in the east? At this point, we think that they have not come into the eastern states yet. We also think they are not coming from areas of northeastern Canada. Although they may be much closer as wolves have already crossed.
Ultimately it’s about time, habitat, and the eastern human population’s willingness to allow them to come. Given all three, they will probably be here. It just might take a while.
Kerry Gyekis
Representative of The Eastern Cougar Foundation (www.easterncougar.org)
Professional, private consultant forester (www.theforester.com)
Kerry has had experience in the American West with the big cat both in tracking and identification of kills.
For many years he has also taken and investigated “sightings” in the East. Years ago he lived among the cougar’s large cousin in the Asian jungle.
He is also an author of many works including one novel (TROPHIES), various outdoor sports articles, and occasional political commentary.
Kerry lives in his own forest in north central PA with his wife Janet.
He has also kayaked Northern Norway, the Yukon, South East Alaska, Coastal British Columbia, Vancouver Island, all of the Great Lakes, and many eastern rivers.
